BOX OFFICE: Serkis Comes To Town! DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Opens Big!

Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle, 20th Century Fox's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is cleaning up at the North American box office. Hit the jump to see how well it is fairing.

A few weeks ago, Variety reported that 20th Century Fox's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was on track for a $68M opening weekend and based on these latest figures it appears those numbers were accurate. It pulled in $26M to $27M on Friday, which puts it on pace for a $68M to $70M 3-day weekend. For comparison: the 2011 film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, opened with $54.8M.

There's one surprise, audiences only gave the film an 'A-' Cinemascore. Kind of schocking since the reviews have been outstanding for the big-budget film. It currently has a 91% “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes. Deadline cautioned, box office figures may encounter a dip on Sunday because the World Cup Final game between Germany and Argentina.

Transformers: Age of Extinction is currently estimated to gross $4.4M tonight and is expected to cross $200M tomorrow; it will end the three-day with about $14M to $15.8M. After that, Tammy is expected to drop about 48% in its second weekend, taking around $11M to $12M, followed by How To Train Your Dragon 2 with $5.6M to $5.7M. Earth to Echo may fall about 33% in its sophomore frame competing for the No. 5 spot at the moment with 22 Jump Street; they both may take in around $5.5M for the weekend. In its second week, Deliver Us From Evilis a frightening 57% off and should take around $4M+.

A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species.

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